Kimberly
CCA Staff Gratitudes

Kimberly

I'm thankful for:  Friends

CCA Staff Gratitudes
Kimberly
Forged by Fire

In lieu of our normal monthly newsletter, given our home base in Northern California, we at Charles Communications Associates, representing wineries from our own backyard and around the world, dedicate this missive to those affected by the Northern California fires of October 2017

Forged by Fire
Friends
If You Can't Stand The Heat, Get Out of the ...

The Napa Valley has recently taken a lot of heat – both literally, due to the serious temperature spike that hit the valley earlier this month, as well as figuratively from those who think the aberrant fluctuation spelled doom for the entire region’s harvest.  The media has been eager to report this story, which we can all understand – what’s sexier than a potential climate change story about America’s most recognized wine region? Fortunately for the consumer, cooler heads prevail for those of us on the ground, and I wanted to share the perspective from someone who has been around the vineyard block.

If You Can't Stand The Heat, Get Out of the Cellar
Kimberly
10 Medium Intensity Questions With Faith ...

Meet Faith Armstrong, the winemaker behind Onward and Farmstrong wines. As refreshing as the Pétillant Naturel she makes of Malvasia Bianca, many of the words used to describe Faith's wine could be used to describe the winemaker herself. Honest, vibrant, unfiltered, true to her origins, bright, complex. 

10 Medium Intensity Questions With Faith Armstrong of Onward & Farmstrong wines
Hillary
Cooking with Cannabis

With that infamous hippie holiday around the corner, Charles Communications explores how Pot d'Huile has revolutionized the marijuana edibles market for both medicinal benefits and gastronomic delight.

Cooking with Cannabis

Wine

Wine Columns for the Week of January 10, 2007

Red is the color of this (or rather, last) week's wine columns, with only one or two bucking the season by talking about whites. Of the latter, Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher's vilification of cheap Chardonnays is the most notable. Something about merlot still captivates many of the wine writers, but Fred Tasker wins the prize for this week's most entertaining wine column by imagining Jerry Springer asking of syrah, "Who's your daddy?" Wines from lesser known regions are also getting press. The Washington Post profiles Liechtensteinian wines, while Matt Kramer in the Oregonian highlights a couple of interesting Portuguese and Sardinian reds. The Chronicle also gets in the regional act by introducing a new series of articles focusing on notable wine regions around the world. Looks quite good.

Finally, Rachel might find a particular poignancy in Paul Gregutt's piece on the 2004 frost which hit Walla Walla...

Wine Columns for the Week of December 26, 2006 and January 3, 2007

With the end of the year come end-of-the-year lists. Not too much to say about lists, except that there are lots of them. A couple of brave writers also attempt to defy the spirit of the New Year by not writing about champagne. Sadly, they're slapped down by their editors and have to recount the same cliches about sparkles and bubbles and popping corks. Lists and not-quite-effervescent prose aside, recent weeks have found writers in a nostalgic and troubled mood. Patrick Comiskey pines for the cabernets of yesteryear, lamenting how many are now as "challenging as a kitten or a chocolate-covered cherry." Similarly, still languishing with a 500 word limit in the Houston Chronicle, Michael Lonsford takes out his frustrations on overripe and unbalanced reds. Meanwhile, over in France, Eric Asimov finds solace in a bottle of 160-year old Meursault Charmes...

Wine Columns for the Week of December 13th, 2006

This week (or I should say last week), while one poor wine writer seems to have had his word count slashed to less than 400, another squanders a terrific story idea (narrative as a fundamental aspect of the best wines) by recounting a string of fatuous vineyard tales. Elsewhere, Eric Asimov considers the Sideways effect on Merlots and finds hope. There are also some more gift-giving stories for last-minute gift-buyers. (Not that it's really the last minute yet!)

Wine Columns for the Week of December 8th, 2006

Perhaps taking the dictum of Christmas as a time for reflection a little too seriously, wine writers decided this week that instead of all writing about the conifers and tinsel, they'd rather just not write at all. Many newspapers feature a single, perfunctory gift guide (Chicago Tribune, Miami Times, NY Times) plugging dire goods like oenological neckwear. Most of those actually talking about wine give us nothing more than a lonely Wine of the Week column (LA Times, Detroit News, Denver Post). The straggling remnants of sparkling wine and wine pairing pieces ($140 Taittinger with hot dogs, anyone?) have also limped somewhat painfully into print.

With such a shortage of decent wine articles, I've scrabbled together journalistic highlights like wine as disinfectant, gossip about Dan Ackroyd's forthcoming line of moderately-priced wines, and a piece in the Washington Post that's too local to be of any relevance (I'm including it anyway because they earned my goodwill with my favourite headline of the week: "Shabu-Shabu? The Pot Thickens.").

Anyway, for wine coverage, skip straight down to the SF Chronicle. W. Blake Grey's Bargain Wine column dallies as dangerously as ever with the line between charming irreverence and excruciating cringe-inducement. Other than that, Jerry Shriver files an informative wine travel article; Michael Lonsford reports briefly on a visit to a Piedmont winery; there's a nice Gaiter/Brecher piece in the WSJ; and there's one from the AP about young French drinkers.

And that's it.